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ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY OFA DODGING KEYSTONE: Climate activists worry that President Barack Obama’s grassroots organization, Organizing for Action, may be telegraphing his upcoming decision on the Keystone XL pipeline by not coming down on one side or the other of the project. OFA says it is echoing Obama’s stance on the pipeline — that he’s waiting on the State Department to finish its review of the project — but environmentalists say the group should be pushing Obama toward a decision. Your host details the disagreement: http://politi.co/10HwGvd

Welcome to Morning Energy. I’m your host, Talia Buford and I’ll be driving the Morning Energy train while your regular host tries his hand at competitive basketweaving. He’ll be back soon enough — with a wicked hamper, no doubt — but in the meantime, so send me your best energy news, tips and tidbits at tbuford@politico.com and follow us on Twitter: @POLITICOPro, @Morning_Energy and @TaliaBuford.

OBAMA: THERE’S MORE WORK TO DO ON ENERGY: President Barack Obama touched on energy issues and the importance of working on climate change during remarks at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee event at the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation in Atlanta Sunday. “We know that we've got to do a lot more work when it comes to energy,” he said according to a transcript of his remarks. “We are sitting on this revolution in the energy sector — probably in five, six, seven years, America will be a net exporter of natural gas. And we will be able to say probably in 15 years or so that we are about as close as you can be to energy independent as America has ever been. But despite that, what we also know is, is that the energy sources of the future are not going to be enough — or the past are not going to be enough. We've got to look at the energy sources of the future. And there’s still a lot more work to be done to make our economy more energy-efficient, to make sure that we're dealing with serious issues like climate change. When I look at Arthur’s incredible kids and grandkids, I'm thinking, just like I'm thinking about when I see Malia and Sasha — I want to make sure that 30 years from now, 40 years from now, when they’re with their kids and their grandkids, that they’ve got a planet that isn't in chaos because of decisions that we made or decisions that we failed to make. We've got a lot more work to do there.”

— ICYMI: The NY Times [http://nyti.ms/1134AAf] is not impressed with Obama’s lofty words about climate change and wants the president to make good on his promise to take executive action to address climate change.

POLITICO PRO TO LAUNCH ‘CEO REPORT’ IN JUNE: POLITICO Pro’s latest newsletter, “CEO Report,” will debut next month. Written by POLITICO Playbook’s Mike Allen and Pro Editor Martin Kady II, the once-a-month feature will offer executives and policy professionals an exclusive summary of the most important policy debates. CEO Report’s easy-to-read, forward-looking format is designed to get you up to speed without having to sort through the daily minutia of Washington policy. Interested in receiving CEO Report? Become a Pro today: https://www.politicopro.com/proinfo/

NRDC LAUNCHES PEBBLE MINE AD BUY: Environmentalists are stepping up opposition to the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Beginning today, Natural Resources Defense Council is launching a “six-figure” ad campaign featuring full-page ads [http://politico.pro/12EBQvO] in publications such as POLITICO featuring Alaskans — Including former Alaska State Senator Rick Haiford — explaining why they want EPA to stop the project under the Clean Water Act. “We want policymakers here inside the Beltway to see the places and see the faces of people who will be severely impacted if Pebble Mine is allowed,” said Bob Keefe, spokesman for NRDC. “The mine — as anybody in these ads can tell you — will be utterly devastating to this irreplaceable region, its people and its wildlife.” Last month, EPA released an updated assessment [http://politico.pro/15YQGlI] finding that the open-pit mining operations would harm fish and wildlife.

ACC STUDY: SHALE GAS SPARKED MAJOR INVESTMENTS IN US: The chemical industry has announced 97 investment projects valued at $71.7 billion since 2010 to expand production using natural gas liquids such as ethylene from American shale, according to a new report out today from the American Chemistry Council. Those investments, according to the report, could create 46,000 chemical industry jobs by 2020. Half of those investments come from foreign companies looking to capitalize on the shale gas boom. The full report will be released later this morning and will be available here: http://bit.ly/12G6JAj

** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: America’s Natural Gas Alliance is pleased to announce the launch of “Think About It”. Real stories about real people using natural gas to power their lives. See the campaign and think about natural gas at www.thinkaboutit.org. **

THEY’LL GIVE ANYONE A TWITTER ACCOUNT THESE DAYS: The Keystone XL pipeline — well, the State Department environmental review of the project at least — has a twitter account: @KXLFiles. The account debuted on Thursday with an introduction tweet [http://bit.ly/111UWxQ]: “Hey I’m new to @twitter but I’ve been around awhile. I’m the State Dep’t environmental review of #KeystoneXL…all 15,500 pages of it.”

EXXON MAKING HEADWAY ON ALASKA PROJECT: By May 2016, ExxonMobil plans to begin producing natural gas condensate from the Point Thompson hydrocarbon development that runs along the Beaufort Sea, to the west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Initially, the development is expected to produce 10,000 barrels of condensate daily — a small amount, but a major step for significant oil and gas development in the harsh Arctic terrain. Anchorage Daily News: http://bit.ly/18WAYX3

DATA CENTER MANAGERS WEARY OF WHITTLING COOLING COSTS: Data center behemoths — think Microsoft and Google — have unlimited resources to make their centers extremely energy efficient, and that is making smaller companies frustrated at the ever rising bar. That “green fatigue” as researchers call it, is setting in, with smaller companies, in some instances, becoming less concerned with efficiency at their centers, according to a study released recently from the Uptime Institute. Slashdot: http://bit.ly/18VqtTV

PETCOKE HEAPS HIGH ALONG THE DETROIT RIVER: Koch Carbon, a company owned by the Koch Bros., is piling petroleum coke along the Detroit River — a visible reminder of the byproduct of Canadian oil sands production. Residents want the pile, which covers a city block, gone. But Koch Carbon sells the stuff overseas where it is burned as fuel. NYT: http://nyti.ms/YST1t3.

QUICK HITS

— The village of Newtok, Alaska will likely be underwater in four years, making its 350 residents America’s first climate refugees. NPR: http://n.pr/10GR7MB

— Rep. Lois Capps’ bill looks to create a national response to the health effects caused by climate change. The Hill: http://bit.ly/115Lxzj

— The National Automobile Dealers Association takes issue with Tesla selling their electric cars directly to consumers, rather than through dealerships. NPR: http://n.pr/11Q9ylm

** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: Every day, Americans commute to work, keep the lights on, charge their phones and do any number of activities that require affordable, reliable and safely produced energy.

But how often do we take a moment to stop and consider where exactly this energy comes from?

One source is abundant, American natural gas. It’s used to generate power, fuel our transportation needs, and serve as a critical building block in American manufacturing. Through each of these uses, natural gas is reducing emissions, saving money and creating jobs.